Dallas homeowners are opposing the building of warehouses near their properties.
As a booming center for national distribution, more warehouses are being constructed across North Texas.
Many homeowners, however, are speaking out against these warehouses.
The Capella Park neighborhood in far Southwest Dallas is filled with many large luxurious homes, but its residents are now fighting plans to build warehouses on the empty land around them.
“The warehouses buying the land are offering more money for the land, and they can cheaply and quickly build,” said resident Colin Larson. “That’s not what we want to see down here.”
Nearby nondenominational Potters House Church, led by Bishop T.D. Jakes, supported the original development of Capella Park.
Resident Darrell Hebert said, “Every [street] name back here comes from the Bible, which was very essential to our family moving here.”
If the warehouses are built, residents would be able to see them from parts of Capella Park, and they are concerned about the heavy truck traffic the warehouses may cause.
“We want to see that traffic remains slow,” Larson said. “We want to see generational wealth for home ownership. There’s a housing shortage in Dallas, and this is the last affordable land to build homes on.”
A warehouse district lies just to the west. “There’s still good land there,” Larson said. “That’s where the warehouses should go.”
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council is expected to vote on the zoning plan for the proposed warehouses, developed by real estate investment and development firm Crow Holdings.
The Dallas Plan Commission initially opposed the plan, but Crow Holdings appealed to the city council for a final decision. The vote that was initially scheduled for the city council meeting on August 24 was postponed to this Wednesday.
Local residents said they would show up at Dallas City Hall in great numbers to show council members how strongly they oppose this plan.
“There should be a voice of the people that’s louder than the money from developers,” Hebert said.
While local residents are against the plan, the warehouses would bring more jobs and provide additional property tax revenue for the city.
Two years ago, another warehouse plan even closer to the homes was shut down with opposition from Capella Park.
Larson said, “We’ve had a little success, but it’s been at a great effort. And it comes at a cost to our neighborhood. We don’t put our focus into our neighbors and our surrounding area. We put all our focus into fighting warehouses, over and over again.”
